One of the biggest issues I had when I first got chickens was where to put the eggs. You may remember there was a bit of a debate about whether I needed to keep them in the fridge or not. I said no, the fella said yes. My no is based on scientific research. The fella's yes is based on The Ick. As in, Ick ... you HAVE to keep eggs in the fridge. The ick factor is only trumped by the Ack. I Acked at his Ick.
Funny thing is, when we first got the chickens I promised I'd keep the eggs in the fridge because anything else grossed him out. I lied. I knew the time would come that the eggs would be on the counter. And sure enough ...
I got my way. The eggs are out of the fridge proudly displayed in a vintage wire egg basket. I can't even begin to tell you how much easier it is to whip an egg at someone who angers me. They're right there, ready to load in an instant.
Which by the way is the only reason I wanted the eggs to be out of the fridge in the first place. Not so I could easily whip them at anyone who criticized my dirty baseboards, but because I wanted to be able to use my wire egg basket and frankly it didn't fit in the fridge.
I, like most people, am a sucker for packaging. You can take a cruddy, old, chewed up piece of gum and if you display it nice enough people will cherish it like a family heirloom. Or at the very least a 50% off Ben & Jerry's ice cream coupon. Who doesn't cherish those?
I wanted my eggs to look as beautiful as possible and for me ... that was on the counter in a vintage egg basket.
So I started to think of ways to make an equally attractive display for eggs for everyone. One that would work for people who keep their eggs on the counter or in the fridge.
It had to be easy and it had to be cheap because I'm easy and cheap. Hey. Wait ... Nevermind.
This is what I came up with.
Materials and cost breakdown
Piece of worn wood - 5" x 12" apx.
2 cupboard handles ($2 - $10 depending on what handles you use) I used Ikea Sätta handles and Ikea Metrik handles.
1 ½" hole saw or spade bit ($8 - $16 depending on quality)
drill
Steps
1. Get yourself some wood. The size you use will dictate how many eggs it will hold. I just used scrap wood I found around the house.
I cut my wood to 5" x 12". This size will hold 7 eggs.
2. Mark where you want to drill your holes. I marked exact 1 ½" circles in a staggered pattern.
3. Cut your holes with your hole saw or spade drill bit. If you bought a cheap hole saw by hole #5 you'll be cursing it and its dull teeth. Then you will have a snack to feel better and calm down before starting to drill again.
4. Attach the cupboard handles to the bottom of the board. This will require you drill a hole through the top of the board so you can insert the screws. If you don't want to see the screws from the top of your board, use a countersinking bit to countersink the screws. Then fill the holes with a mix of sawdust from your drilling and Carpenter's Glue. Proportions don't matter. Just mix a whack of it all together until it forms a paste and shove it in the holes.
Once the fill has dried, lightly sand it to smooth it out and if you're using a painted wood board, repaint the top to further camouflage your holes. Wow. "To further camouflage your holes" That sounded very formal and official didn't it? I talk good.
If you want a sort of farmy, rustic chic look use sleek metal handles with barnboard like I did in the first photo. If you want a more contemporary, clean look use straight cut wood. A slice of a spruce 1 x 6 will do the trick.
And you could go nuts with the painting. Doesn't have to be white you know. Pink, orange, blue, black and white polkadot. Whatever.
I swear to you, the fun doesn't end there. Since making these wood doohickeys I've realized they're the most versatile, weird little things I've ever made. I use them for EVERYTHING.
Case in point ... those extra Christmas balls you have that you're completely sick of putting in bowls around the house?
Ta Da.
Need a cute little way to serve appetizers or snacks?
Ta Da.
These sized holes also are the perfect fit for ... tea lights.
Ta Da.
No picture. You're just gonna have to trust me on this one.
So. It's true. If you run out and make one of these things to keep or give away for Christmas you'll be giving the gift of a Rustic/Modern eggholder/ornament displayer/snack server/tealight holder. Uh huh.
All for the low, low price of between $2.50 and $10.
And after giving this you're sure to be met with squeals of joy. There won't be an ack or an ick around. Promise.
I was thinking about buying egg holders, but this is so much better and cheaper! This is my first visit to your blog and you are seriously funny. I Love it
If a person collects stone spheres or eggs or round paperweights (as I do), They could make these to hold their pretties. ( Naturally, I just ordered acrylic circles to display them on earlier today.)
I was looking for something to put my water bottles in I think this will work fine. Thanks for the idea. I too have chickens and the eggs do last a long time out of the fridge. I also like your idea for a water warmer.
Thank you
Pointy side of the egg down please.
This page was linked from backyardchickens.com in a thread asking what people use to gather their eggs.
Great concept. I have a TON of old (like 1800's old) wood from a house rebuild. I'm making cabinets and tables out of the bigger pieces. This would be good for some of the smaller ones. Another (NOT cheap or DIY) egg display is a vertical spiral egg holder. I would love to have one, you put the eggs in at the top and the oldest egg is always at the bottom of the spiral. Unfortunately *I* can't use either. We have 3 house cats and don't those eggs look like they would be fun to knock down and chase?
With respect to drilling the holes:
- Go with a good hole saw. Spade bits have to cut ALL the wood, can chatter around and make a big mess. A hole saw cuts only a very small amount of wood, just the circumference, and makes a very clean edge. With either (and I see you did this based on the plugs) after the bit starts to exit the other side of the wood, stop drilling and do the next hole. Once they have all been started on one side, flip the board over and drill from the other side. Doing this yields a clean edge on both sides of the board. NOT doing it, especially with a spade bit, will have a bunch of ripped out bits on the bottom.
- Drawing all the holes before drilling is good for showing what it will look like, especially for posting instructions on a web page ;) but is not necessary since either the hole saw or spade bit can make nothing other than a circle the diameter of the bit/saw. You can just mark the center of each hole (time saver!). You might want to mark the holes for the legs at the same time. I can see me drilling a bunch of 1 1/2 holes then finding out at least one of the holes for the legs is too close to one of the egg holes.
With regard to refrigeration, you are spot on Karen. It is not necessary with fresh eggs from happy backyard chickens. Commercial layers live 24/7 in cages, multiple birds per cage. They sleep, eat, poop and lay eggs in that cage. Backyard and farm chickens lay in nesting boxes but they don't live in them and I have never had a chicken poop in a nest box, NEVER. They are smarter than to poop where they will hatch and brood their babies (even if they NEVER sit on a fertile egg). My 12 girls have laid over 2,700 eggs in a year and a half and I bet I've not washed even half a dozen. Every once in a while they have dirty feet when they get in the nest or some on their butt feathers. So you CAN refrigerated them if you like but if you didn't wash them, there is no need to do so. ALWAYS refrigerate store bought eggs, they are not safe from bacterial contamination.
Commercial eggs in the USA MUST, by law, be washed, sanitized and refrigerated. It is illegal to wash eggs for sale in some countries. Yes, ILLEGAL. And you will find them on the shelves at the store, not in a refrigerator. They don't house their layers in small cages with no nest box.
Forbes article
Bruce
When I lived in the Mojave Desert, the first time I went to the local store, there was egg cartons sitting in the middle of the store, huge pile of them. I was stunned to see eggs sitting out of the refrigerator section. Once they are refrigerated, they must remain that way. I don't know how long they can sit outside refrigeration, but I used mine within a couple days.
Hi Wendy - They can be without refrigeration for a couple of months actually! Commercial eggs need to be refrigerated because they've been washed. Chickens create a "bloom" over the shell the minute they lay the egg. It acts like a film and barrier. When the eggs are washed, this protective bloom is washed away. In fact the bloom does a much better job of protecting the egg from bacteria than washing it and refrigerating it. But ... the North American way (by law) is to wash the eggs and (because their natural barrier from bacteria is now gone) refrigerate. ~ karen!
This is brilliant. I was wondering if the handel/foot height had additional clearance so if you were to make a set in decending sizes if they could stack to make an Egg-celant display for a farmers market space? Any thoughts?
Dee - These particular handles are all the same depth. Even if you get larger handles, they're still the same distance from handle to cupboard (or egg holder in this case). You could use a number of things for legs though. I just liked the look of these handles. Copper tubing cut to length as legs would be beautiful. Just buy a length of copper tube at the hardware store along with the little thingamabob for cutting it. I forget what they're called. It's just a little tool that has a blade that you run around and around the tube, tightening it as you go. That way you could cut the tubing to 2", 4", 6" for 3 sets of legs at varying heights. Hmm. Now I wanna make another one with copper tubing legs. Good luck. ~ karen!
Love this!!! I may have to make one. I think I'd number it bc I need some way to tell my older eggs apart...Room temp eggs=great for homemade mayo!!!
Thanks Kimberly! I absolutely love the one I made out of barn board. It's beautiful. ~ karen!
What a cute idea! Love it for the snacks. Cheers.
Love this idea! My aunt has chickens that lay many eggs, much like your little ones, this is perfect for her! Thank you!!!!
i've seen something similar in the movie Gosford Park (though bigger) and have wanted to make something similar ever since. this is awesome.
now that is pluckin fabulous! Pinned! :)
So you said these are good for tealights...how do you keep them from falling through the holes?
you obv. don't have to wait a year to come up with something that impresses the snot out of the rest of us!
kelliblue - The tea lights don't sit all the way down into the holes. Only halfway or so in the one board for some reason and close to 7/8ths of the way down in the other. Strange. The tea lights is actually the least beautiful way to use these things. You'd be amazed at how these stands can make useless junk look GREAT. ~ karen!
perfect gift for my sis-in-law that likes me enough to share her backyard eggs with me! this gift will allow her to get past her husbands ick factor, so she too, can leave them on the counter!